It has been a long road back for lightweight Devonte Smith, but on Saturday, he once again gets to make that walk to the octagon.
Smith, after recently recovering from a ruptured achilles tendon that required surgery, will face Justin Jaynes at UFC Vegas 18. Jaynes has stepped in on short notice replacing the injured Alex da Silva in the lightweight matchup at the UFC APEX.
“King Kage” makes his first appearance since his UFC 241 knockout loss to then newcomer Khama Worthy in August 2019.
Check out an exclusive interview with MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck as Smith discusses being part of his first fight week in a year and a half, being able to trust his achilles once he got clearance from his doctors, how he feels about the late notice opponent shift, if just getting back to the octagon on Saturday after everything he’s gone through will go down as a moral victory, the state of the lightweight division following Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler’s massive wins at UFC 257, and more.